The site was read-only for about a month, then I got an email telling me about this one.
When I logged on I found lots of familiar contributors, including administrators.
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Welcome Chris. Hope the journey was a smooth, albeit slow one?
The following threads *might* go some way to explain what happened.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=3&t=172
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=5&t=381
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 25 Mar 10 at 12:32
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Hi
I only got told yesterday about this site, i did wonder where everyone had gone from the original.
Can I come in??
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 25 Mar 10 at 13:32
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Yes i have a bottle, - but what happened to the bottle opener?
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I'm afraid we had to let him go in the last round of efficiency savings.
You'll have to open your own bottle. :-)
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BTW, the other forums looks a lot less busy compared to good times ;)
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"The following threads *might* go some way to explain what happened."
They go some way. There are still some things I'm curious about. But I guess that they are none of my business.
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I look into Aitchieboy's everyday, just to see what's cooking,
someone posted this link at just after 7pm tonight, and it disappeared in a flash :-O
www.khoosys.net/single.htm?ipg=91
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Smart Move P. Still quick on yer toes eh! Nice one.
Reg's......M
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HJ is a pub where you can have two pints but then get cucked out for being drunk.
This site is a place where you can have ten pints and then get chucked out for trying to snog the bar maid and decking the landlord.
The only reason I stayed on that site is I liked the members. The over the top moderation just ruined too many good posts.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 25 Mar 10 at 21:59
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Be a bit careful there Rattle, after ten pints you might end up snogging the landlord and decking the barmaid.
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The only thing I won't and don't do after ten pints is driving :) Or touch any computers other than my own!
I drink very slowly and I rarely have ten pints. When I go down sarf I won't be drinking much at all really, thats even if I even get there :(.
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>>I drink very slowly and I rarely have ten pints>>
If you drank faster, you'd be able to down more pints in the time available...:-)
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That might be OK on the decking when it warms up a bit ;0)
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>> The over the top moderation just ruined too many good posts.
As did some of the contributors who got carried away with their keyboards and didn't know when to shut up.
At the end of the day we were looking after someone's business. That is something that some people just couldn't grasp and treated the BR as their own little playground.
I hope the current moderators maintain the high standard that past moderators on HJ set out to achieve. I'm sure they are up to the challenge, otherwise they wouldn't have volunteered for the role. I can't vouch for the others as I don't really know them, but I know Avant has been a BR member for quite a long time and will know what to look out for, as well as rtj70 who was a moderator before the BR was revamped.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 26 Mar 10 at 00:30
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That was no means an attack by the moderators on HJ or here. I am sure it was obvious that the moderators were only following guidelines given by the other sites management.
My biggest gripe is that it was almost as if no sense of humour was allowed. I actually think so far this site has a better balance towards moderation.
On HJ you were almost aware that the mods were watching every post, here they seem more transparent and there only if it is needed.
Keep up the good work.
PS I also still visit the other site but I no longer contribute to the forum as I don't see the point on posting on two forums which are similar.
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What happened? He got too big for his titfer is what happened.
;-)
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There was a short item on the news this morning about national newspapers charging for access to their internet edition. I wonder what effect this will have, if it's implemented on the HJ forum.
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>> There was a short item on the news this morning about national newspapers charging for
>> access to their internet edition.
Times - £1/day £2/week news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8588432.stm
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Online forums work on "crowdsourcing" concept.
The members get good advice for free. The webhost gets good traffic and generate some small revenue from the ads.
Now if people are charged for accessing the site, they will go elsewhere.
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>> Now if people are charged for accessing the site they will go elsewhere.
Presumably the Times are hoping all (or at least most) of their rivals will follow their lead and do the same. And I guess there will be some diehard Times readers who will be prepared to pay - wonder how many?
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How will this work with Google (e.g. press "news" tab to get summary, follow link to the newspaper, get asked to log in)?
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Yes, something like that. The Wall Street Journal is an example of an early adopter in paid for content. You get the abstract on Google and the full article on the site when you log in.
In an interview Rupert Murdoch said he didn't really want Google to index his sites as they were getting information for free and the kind of people they brought were not the ones who were prepared to pay for content.
The idea of paid for news is something that newspapers have been banding about for a while, so it is only a matter of time that they will all tend to want to do this. There is less and less money in the printed paper and advertising alone can't bring in the revenue they require for "good quality" articles.
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If it's £1 a day that is expensive for online news. £2 a week is better but would you want to pay that each week automatically?
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No - I do glance at it on a Sunday - but I'm not going to pay a quid for the privilege though - I'll rifle through the neighbour's recycling box on bin day !
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The irony is that hard-copy newspapers have, if anything, been moving towards being free over the last decade, whilst the soft-copy (i.e. online) papers that have only production, not distribution, costs have been moving towards being paid for.
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That model has now changed, the MEN used to be free in the city centre but its now only free two days a week. One of the free London papers has also been stopped.
The model of free content works well when advertising rates are high but in times of recession companies cut back on their advertising spends.
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The only evening paper in London now is the Standard. Free since late last year it's now only produced as one "west end final" edition. Works OK in the centre where it's distributed at stations etc. Dozens of copies abandoned on my train for the carriage cleaners to sort out. Don't suppose the paper's owner contributes to the cost.
Time will tell whether it survives.
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>>OK in the centre where it's distributed at stations etc.
>>
But all the newsagents who used to sell are well hacked off as customers who used to buy it bought other items too. Quite a loss of trade to those folk..
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The problem is people stopped buying the paper because of the internet. I used to enjoy my evenign trip to get the MEN as it was an excuse to get out of the house.
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When I was a lad I got ten concurrent paper rounds. I then paid ten friends 80% of my gross income to deliver them. In the time it would have taken to deliver the papers I walked my dog.
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A regular entrepreneur - all that shoe leather.
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>> The problem is people stopped buying the paper because of the internet.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>personal media players killed the buying newspapers in my opinion,many years ago
the rot just got worse and lets be honest newspapers have been going downhill since The Sunday Times shut for a year (1 December 1978–12 November 1979).
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...lets be honest newspapers have been going downhill...
The overwhelming majority of newspapers turn a profit, so if that's downhill, there's a few companies in other trades that would like to be on the same decline.
Ad revenues have been tight, but there have been no wholesale closures because the papers have continued to make money.
One national exception is The Independent, but that nice Russian gentleman will reckon to turn that around within a year or so.
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ifithelps i had the telegraph free for 3 months a few years back then had every paper for a year for about £42 i couldnt read it all in the end it took me to bedtime to catch up
the sun often does 10 p issues
the mail is bought by some meglamaniac who goes round the country buying every copy up and storing them in great silos in north lincolnshire
newspapers make their profits on advertising not on sales to joe public dont try and pull the wool over my eyes
and wheres eddie sha these days
or freddy laker
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...dont try and pull the wool over my eyes...
I'm not - kindly read my posts properly before making bold statements.
I said newspapers are profitable - they are.
Of course the paid-for titles make their money from a mixture of advertising and cover price - that's why I mentioned ad revenues.
But to say newspapers make their profits on advertising not sales is tosh, because no advertiser would advertise in a paper that had no sales.
Most of the income of a paid-for paper comes from advertising, but the income from the cover price is still very important.
Reckon on about 60 per cent/40 per cent and you'll not be far wrong.
And by the way, if I was trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you'd never spot it.
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And by the way, if I was trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you'd never spot it.
>
>>>>>>>>
well how would i?
i wouldnt be able to see anythink
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It's ironic that the printed edition of The Times has been a loss maker virtually every year since Murdoch bought it (88 million loss last year) - Murdoch equivalent of buying Chelsea
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Ere!!! If HJ has got to resurrect threads from 4 years ago, things must be bad.
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>> Ere!!! If HJ has got to resurrect threads from 4 years ago things must be bad.
Something afoot in Tech Matters as well. There were never than many posts on a daily basis when I was moderating the forum.
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But it does have a Bangcock motor show report. Who reads that - his Girlfriend?
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The new HJ site is horrible to read, the threads taper inwards as you scroll down. Is it just on my PC or is everyone else getting the same?
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Mine Tapers too, but the Doc says it's natural.
Seriously though Hj site seems to be a bit of a pickle.
MD
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>> The new HJ site is horrible to read the threads taper inwards as you scroll
>> down. Is it just on my PC or is everyone else getting the same?
It's an attempt to combine flat view with threaded view (see the 'View Threaded/Flat' link at the top of each topic if you don't know the difference).
On this and the old HJ site, if you use flat view, you see the posts' text but not the structure ie. it's not always obvious which post a post is in reply to. Threaded view shows you the structure, but not the text. The new HJ layout shows both, but whether it 'works' ...
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>> On this and the old HJ site if you use flat view you see the
>> posts' text but not the structure ie. it's not always obvious which post a post
>> is in reply to.
Over here the best we thought we could do is in Flat view to give you the arrow up icon on the top left
mouseover and it shows the post that one is in reply to.
I agree with comments about the indentation in flat view. It's a nice idea but I don't like it because once you are reading a section of the screen the context is lost anyway. There is no way one can trace the light blue lines back up to the original easily. It works when the post you are looking at is short and just one or two below the one it is replying to, but even then it is a bit distracting.
The other thing is that on longer threads you end up with posts a couple of inches wide with loads of blue stripes on the left to show you the threading - which as I say doesn't really work.
So visually it isn't very appealing and does not add much.
On a similar note with long threads in threaded view their indentation of posts does not wrap, so the column width gets forced to be much wider than designed. i.e. it spills under the following column making it look a bit messy.
Anyway, I shouldn't really comment, so apologies to any offended.
Last edited by: car4play on Mon 29 Mar 10 at 22:52
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>> Over here the best we thought we could do is in Flat view to give
>> you the arrow up icon on the top left mouseover and it shows the post
>> that one is in reply to.
Whoops - forgotten about that!
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Yes, I could never understand his insistence on reporting on Thai-market cars that were never available over here?
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Just out of curiosity, I recently did a forum search on HJ. Some former members ~ Fotherington Tomas for example ~ appear to have been totally removed. I wonder why?
Last edited by: L'escargot on Mon 29 Mar 10 at 07:46
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Les,
Don't doubt what you say, but in the case of FT, I think he was Thomas with an 'h' on HJ.
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Nope, not there with an 'h' either.
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He's there under "FotheringtonThomas".
Over there you can't search part of a name - e.g. "othering" and expect it to find authors containing that set of letters. You have to get it exactly right including any trailing spaces that may have been in the name.
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...give you the arrow up icon on the top left which shows...
Oh, so that's what it does, I did wonder.
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>> ...give you the arrow up icon on the top left which shows...
>>
>> Oh so that's what it does I did wonder.
But it doesn't wotk unless you use the 'Reply to this message' link of the post you are replying to (which you didn't - up to you of course).
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It seemed popular to switch names, so, you see, I changed to something unguessable! Ha-har!
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You now spell it the authentic way as Molesworth spelt it in Down with Skool, though I'm sure you don't say 'Hello clouds hello sky....' !
Thank you for your confidence, Vx Fan, further up this thread. We'll do our best to keep up the high standard that you set, and as I've said on both forums we all want to make sure that we can co-exist peacefully, and I hope that as many as possible will post on both forums.
We certainly won't discourage humour (speaking as one who's made a few bad jokes on there in my time), and I personally don't have a problem with the thread drifting off topic (as this one did) - it's what happens in conversation. But as before we'll try to prevent unpleasantness, unhelpfuless (particularly to new posters) and undue promotion or offslagment of other forums (if that's not a word it ought to be).
So far there's been a pleasant crowd on HJ, as indeed on here. So do come back if you haven't already, without leaving this one.
Last edited by: Avant on Tue 30 Mar 10 at 21:37
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"So far there's been a pleasant crowd on HJ, as indeed on here. So do come back if you haven't already, without leaving this one"
I trust you'll post a similar comment on HJ's site Avant :-)
Last edited by: Pugugly on Tue 30 Mar 10 at 22:28
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Touche!
Do by all means delete my last sentence, PU - I shan't be in the least offended as in a sense I was 'promoting another forum!' which on HJ we ask people not to do!
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No worries it was tongue in cheek.
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>> which on HJ we ask people not to do!
No we are told to delete/edit the posts.
Dave/PU/Smokie... delete if you see fit but only fair that we say here that this forum cannot be promoted and is probably in the swear filter.
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Can't see a reason to censor it Rob.
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"this forum [c4p] cannot be promoted and is probably in the swear filter."
Yes, it is. I tried it.
Last edited by: ChrisPeugeot on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 09:13
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>>But as before we'll try to prevent unpleasantness, unhelpfuless (particularly to new posters) and undue promotion or offslagment of other forums (if that's not a word it ought to be).
These are noble and good aims Avant. But when you can post the following paragraph on the honestjohn forum as a reply to the thread there relating to where Rattle is without any modification I will know that your wishes have been truly met.
"Rattle can be found on car4play.com (alias Rattleandsmoke)"
ps. Rattle I hope you don't mind being used as an example.
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Quick question!
when using the widget that was being discussed further up the thread that shows which post was replied to, why does my router login page come up when i hover on said widget on posts from "car4play" "focus" and "ifithelps" dated March 29? It only happens on these three posters, - any ideas?
cheers
me.
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I did in fact attempt this very thing recently. My post was promptly deleted and I had an e-mail discussion with a moderator, who justified the deletion as breaking forum rules in respect of "soliciting or conducting business on the site or using it for other commercial purposes".
I said such a decision seemed at best arbitrary.
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>> Thank you for your confidence, Vx Fan
Avant you will need to put in many hours a day to cover what Dave did on the other site. Dave and I (and PU) probably read ALL threads soon after posting. And we used to get alerts to personal email address for offensive emails which we responded to quickly. I personally used to get alerted within 5 minutes (not any longer).
So if Boris, Avant and WKS can do what the old mods did - you'll be working a fair few hours per day. And full time on holidays. For no payment.
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"Rattle can be found on car4play.com (alias Rattleandsmoke)"
I wouldn't want to invade Rattle's, or anyone else's, privacy by saying publicly where he 'is to be found' - it's up to individuals to contribute to any forum they want to.
It's a personal thing, isn't it - we each disclose as much or as little about ourselves as we want to; and as moderators (I'm sure you'll agree) we respect people's confidences.
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And at times information we have to hand might make us think and do otherwise.
In the past one member posted things on t'other site and we got concerned and discussed. All ended up okay. But had we been that concerned we might have taken action (we could have for this example but not all) I suppose.
I think the new HJ Publishing moderating regime has under-estimated what Dave and the others did (including me). To pay them they would get a fair amount per month. And I'll leave it at that and enjoy HJ on xmas day after everyone has had a few days of port.... :-)
Although we used to get spam from China on xmas day like any other day too.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 01:20
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Oh dear. I struggled for a while to think of the most neutral kind of thing to say about car4play.com. I remembered there was a simple question there about Rattle's whereabouts and thought the simple answer would be neutral enough.
The point I was making wasn't really anything to do with Rattle. I had hoped that was clear and I am sorry for not communicating that better.
My point was that no one could write that phrase or anything else about car4play.com in ANY post on the honestjohn.co.uk site. In fact this paragraph could not be reproduced word for word on the honestjohn.co.uk site.
Shall I try it and post the outcome back over here?
In short it would not be possible to slag off car4play.com even if anyone tried! Offslagment isn't an issue with car4play.com. Perhaps you will now understand my confusion with your original post.
I suppose we should be really flatterred that on honestjohn.co.uk you can reference any other forum be it BMW, Volvo owners, whatever, but you can't mention car4play.com.
As a moderator over there maybe you can explain why this is?
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Well, I for one thought your point was perfectly clear.
The disappearance of Rattle from HJ had been noticed by some of the regulars there and questions - awkward questions - were being asked. It's an obvious example to use, as attempts to answer the questions explicitly immediately ran foul of the site's policy.
Of course we are dealing with an issue which clearly irks those at "the other place" and I guess they feel they have more to lose than c4p does in allowing reference to a competitor.
The irritation that some loyal BR members feel about how things were managed no doubt sits uneasily with them.
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I would just look at it that Avant was allowing to put car4play on HJ as a way of helping more traffic over to here, in as discreet a way as he could.
He should be complimented :)
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I suppose in a way its fairly simple, there were many instances where HJ clearly threw the teddy from the cot if postings didn't go his way, and that's his choice its his site. Obviously a fairly high percentage of his regular posters, moderators etc. are now here and it no doubt annoys him hence the removal of this forums existance in his eyes!. I did email him personally to suggest he distanced himself from the new site, if indeed he'd sold it etc as in my opinion it was truly awful. I received a reply saying he had only returned to the backroom recently and was finding the same problems, the old back room caused him grief and no financial gain etc so I gave up
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...a reply saying he had only returned to the backroom recently and was finding the same problems, the old back room caused him grief and no financial gain etc so I gave up...
The guy certainly knows how to whinge, and if everything doesn't go 100 per cent his way the toys are straight out the pram.
Don't blame you for giving up.
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Yes I remember being castigated by him for asking him a question mid thread that he had contributed to, rather than emailing him direct. Can't even remember what it was about!
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>> "Rattle can be found on car4play.com (alias Rattleandsmoke)"
>>
>> I wouldn't want to invade Rattle's or anyone else's privacy by saying publicly where he
>> 'is to be found' - it's up to individuals to contribute to any forum they
>> want to.
So what would happen should Rattle go to HJ's & say "Rattle can be found on car4play.com (alias Rattleandsmoke)", and what would your your thoughts on the acceptability of that be?
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I think we know the answer to that one!
In the same way that, when I challenged the mod who had deleted my post I was told, "I think you know why it was deleted."
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I really think it's not fair or necessary to pursue this line. If Avant chooses to reply, then fine, but I expect everyone has already drawn their own conclusions about the merits of the respective sites, and decided where they want to spend their time, so a theoretical discussion is not really that helpful, and could end up being inflammatory.
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How can you invade somebody's privacy by saying that their pen name has posted on another website????
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>> How can you invade somebody's privacy by saying that their pen name has posted on
>> another website????
Edited to add that this is an entirely theoretical oilragian musing, and in no way intended to be interpreted as a jibe at Avant.
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Not interpreted by us as anything else other than a oilrgian muse !
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>> (an) oilragian musing
Mmmm. "An Oilragian musing", I like it.
"An oil-rahg-ian musing"
"An oyl-raahgian musing"
"An oil-rajeian musing"
Practice makes prefect.
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why do we not get oilragian muses on here any more?
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 15:32
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Because, he said, he is posting on HJ now and can't be doing with two fora, nah blow it, forums, or words to that effect.
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did we offend him in some manner? It seems his muses "over there" are not as widely admired as they would be here.
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I think it was me.......I called him Mike!
He had signed on as Mike when this forum started and I didn't realise he'd changed his log in name, and well, I've got broad shoulders anyway:)
Pat
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"I suppose we should be really flattered that on honestjohn.co.uk you can reference any other forum be it BMW, Volvo owners, whatever, but you can't mention car4play.com.
As a moderator over there maybe you can explain why this is?"
This isn't a personal issue for me, but it's HJ's forum and he and his publisher have to run it as part of their business: they take a firm view that mentions of rivals could constitute advertising. I suspect the moderators on a BMW forum might feel equally sensitive about mention of, say, the Volvo forum on theirs.
Anyway we all of us, including HJ, want peaceful co-existence, so let's not make this into an issue. I look forward to continuing as a member of this forum and going along with the moderation on it, even if I might not agree with it (nothing to disagree with so far!).
As Smokie suggests, perhaps we can draw a line under this now - and of course stay friends.
Last edited by: Avant on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 20:55
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>> As Smokie suggests perhaps we can draw a line under this now -
I agree.
>> and of course stay friends.
For sure ;-)
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...and of course stay friends...
Nice thought, but I think you might struggle...
I see Avant is plugging HJ in the father/son thread, yet any mention of car4play over there is banned.
A friendly relationship needs to be mutual and respectful.
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HJ himself has not said this site cannot be mentioned I believe. Others at the business have decided this site cannot be mentioned and therefore the site name is even in the swear filter. So the relationship is not mutual or respectful. Something I do not agree with.
I cannot see why both sites cannot exist and why references are not allowed. Then again the Times cannot be referenced at the HJ site either.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 21:51
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>> Then again the Times cannot be referenced at the HJ site either.
From what I recall, The Times can be mentioned, but no direct links are/were allowed. From what you're saying, C4P can't even be mentioned.
IIRC, it was previously mentioned in the Backroom that The Sunday Times Driving was set up to compete against Telegraph Motoring, which was one of the reasons for not allowing direct links to The Times.
IMHO someone at HJ towers considers C4P to be an even bigger competitor than The Times. Quite an achievement wouldn't you say?
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 22:01
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>> IMHO someone at HJ towers considers C4P to be an even bigger competitor than The
>> Times is. Quite an achievement wouldn't you say?
Not an achievement and not a threat IMO. But C4P cannot even be mentioned. The number of members here has to be a tiny percentage compared to HJ. You'd start thinking the small number of regular posters somehow generated a large percentage of the revenue for HJ. But that cannot be the case. He has so many other good parts of the site for the public - and none of them have a competitor at this site.
The only comparison between sites is the fact both have a forum. I know this site will change but I doubt it will compete with the HJ site.
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>> The only comparison between sites is the fact both have a forum. I know this
>> site will change but I doubt it will compete with the HJ site.
>>
I believe that the 2 sites wont compete, but only due their forum becoming a laughing stock, and this one improving until its in the top 10 UK motoring forums!
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Someone just posted a question on the HJ site asking where everyone had gone too. Within minutes the post had disappeared presumably because any reply would be deemed as advertising.
I'm saddened to see this level of censorship on what was once a very good forum. It will just make people disgruntled and want to move on. In the age of the net people will find this site anyway if they really want to. Perhaps more importantly the users who have found a new home here will be even less inclined to return.
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Hi Merlin,
I posted that question and I received an email as to why the post was removed
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Hi BB,
Quote from a moderator in the email.
"Unfortunately we have to hide any replies as HJ feels that to mention other forums on here is a form of advertising "
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>> Quote from a moderator in the email.
>>
>> "Unfortunately we have to hide any replies as HJ feels that to mention other forums
>> on here is a form of advertising "
Now we all know that statement isn't 100% correct. It should read:- "HJ feels that to mention THIS FORUM on here is a form of advertising"
I've mentioned numerous forums over the years on HJ, and not one got deleted. I have also recently mentioned www.vectra-c.com/forum and that didn't get deleted either.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sun 11 Apr 10 at 12:53
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>>
>> I've mentioned numerous forums over the years on HJ and not one got deleted.
Agreed i referred a couple of times to BMW and MB forums when posters were obviously in need of specialist advice, mine weren't chopped either.
By the way i think i'll have to concede defeat, tried to find enough interest to keep me going there, finally lost the will to bother anymore.
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Case of sour grapes by HJ
Last edited by: Cpt. Flack on Sun 11 Apr 10 at 13:36
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Not plugging, just answering Pat's reasonable point.
Anyway, finito.
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It's a shame, as I used to refer queries on HJ to other specialist sites without problems.
I do hope we don't adopt a 'them and us' attitude as I reckon that could end up with a non-expanding clique here.
I'd love to see the two sites merge, without the other's restrictions.
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I still use the HJ site (for c2c etc) but I got very annoyed when the forum was down so long. When I got a invite to this site I couldn't refuse. I then found the moderation on this site is much more transparent which allows threads to flow better. I am sure this site is heavily 'monitored' but I don't think it is heavily controlled. Where as HJ became very heavily moderated towards the end (I am not blaming the mods as they were just following policy).
By blocking this site is really does seem like they have something to hide, it dosn't give a good impression to members of this site.
Yes HJ has lost a lot of members but if we are all 'unprofitable' you think they would be glad as this forum is saving them a lot of bandwidth!
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There's a new post over there this morning in the legal forum about someone being done for drink driving for the second time, and asking what to expect and if he could avoid a ban.
He states his second time was in March2009. It's now April 2010 and the way it reads is that he hasn't been to court yet?
I find that, and some of the other legal posts, just a little contrived.
The stats from the forums on there will be very important in selling advertising and will affect the Alexa rating which is the indicator a lot of potential advertisers use.
This could well explain the feeling I had as a poster of being tolerated as a necessary evil.
There are quite a few lorry driver forums around and some years ago there was rivalry and friction among us all, links were banned and the mere mention in a post could cause WW3 to break out.
It's taken a little time but now we all co-exist with a lot of mutual respect for each other. In matters of importance we ( Admin/Mods/Trustees) work together in the background with information to each other and Peterborough Truckfest will see us all standing around a BBQ with a few beers and laughing about the years tribulations 'online'!
There is one exception, and that particular organisation is run by one person, who's own ego is paramount. He has managed to fall out with us all in the past
and continues to berate us all because we haven't closed down and moved to 'his' operation.
Does this sound familiar?
It does to me:)
Pat
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Martin - I've hidden your post (and it's replies). We are relaxed, but not THAT relaxed. Your post had fairly serious inferences with no proper justification. Please don't repeat it.
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There was a link to 4play earlier on Aitchieboys, not a direct link as such but a Google of rattle&smoke.
It didn't stay up long - sad bunch me thinks!
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>> not a direct link as such but a Google of rattle&smoke.
"It's important not to impinge on Rattle's, or anyone else's, privacy by revealing details unless they request it themselves."
If that is the case, then I do hope Avant and the other moderators purge the rest of the Backroom to remove links to other people's posts; eg - all of mine for instance pointing to a user called Cyd and his recommendation for what type of lubricant to use for door locks. And not to mention all the links that jbif and other BRs have provided over the years, both to other people in the BR and to other forums.
Of course we know that's not going to happen though because C4P and the mere mention of it isn't allowed, whereas 99% of other links are. In fact the only other direct links that aren't allowed were to The Times, Parkers, and WhatCar. You were however allowed to discuss and provide non clickable links to Parkers and WhatCar.
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Do you know what the link was? You can email it to me if you wish.
The problem is now the other site has made a tricky situation for them selves because I feel like I could never post there again because people will ask where I have been and I won't want to lie. We have been made to feel like naughty school children by being members of this site.
I may one day start posting again but with most the members on here I would have to pick and choose which forum to post on. Hopefully as both forums grow the members will become very different.
I would like to see this more as a car buffs site and HJ as a more general site for none car lovers.
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I'm still posting on HJ well till they tell me to clear off, i hope no one thinks doing so is any form of disloyalty to either forum plenty of room for both, the fun seems to have gone west over there though despite trying some tongue in cheek posts.
Rattie's extremely popular, to be honest many in Rattie's age group take themselves a bit too seriously, you're quite a breath of fresh air matey.
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carry on and we will tar and feather your rig.
you will look like you are driving a chicken
(with blue lights on the front)
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 13:51
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Ha that AE fellow spends too much time dreaming about blue lights, methinks an unfulfilled lusting for rigger boots and stockings is pulling him steadily to the dark side, go on Z make your wildest dreams come true, it's emancipating almost once you let the inhibitions go.
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>>>Do you know what the link was <<<
Sorry for the delay, I've been making Cornish pasties :)
There is a thread 'over there' (as you probably know) asking about Rattle,
Someone with the handle Alien something or other posted a tinyurl which led to a Google search on RattleandSmoke, and obviously 4play was clearly visible.
I always 'look in' on Aitchieboy quite regularly, but never post, under Dog (underdog?) or any other name.
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Just made my first post on there. Oilrag made a post about his Panda and somebody suggested I should buy one. I had to reply to fill them in :).
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>> I had to reply to fill them in :).
>>
'fill them in' has a different meaning round my way ;-)
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Only been on it a few minutes and spotted some bugs. My bed is rested here :).
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>> Do you know what the link was?
As said. It was a link to lmgtfy (let me google that for you) using your username that you use on here. I don't know what the original link was, but have replicated it on lmgtfy for you.
tinyurl.com/yj3tdeo
And then the poster (alien) said "the third one down"
Someone asked on HJ where you'd gone. An answer was provided. There was no direct link to C4P, yet it was still removed. Go figure?
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 15:26
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Oily's posts seem to be struggling to get any responses!
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>> Oily's posts seem to be struggling to get any responses!
>>
Thats a pity really his posts are word phrase and poetry rich observations on human foibles which stimulate thought, some dry humour and cutting wit in there too.
Not many there who appreciate his input or maybe too shy to join in yet, i hope he comes here again and feels happy to post on both regularly, i know many here would enjoy his melodic contributions again...apart from that not many sensible car maintenance people here, i'll need his leadership when some fool lacking any sense of humour starts telling us that modern oil lasts longer than 5K..;)
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I've just Googled spamcan61, first link is to Youtube ( which I hardly ever use ) second is to a thread here, first BR link is halfway down the page; so at least in the unlikely event someone's missing me on the BR I should be easy to find / stalk.
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I just tried 'Binging' Dog :-)
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>> I got very annoyed when
>> the forum was down so long.
Chill out Ratty, it's no big deal. You're a long time dead.
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I can't help feeling that to HJ we are really just a bunch of faffing pub bores, some even less amusing than others. He's a professional, we are a bit 'Cor! What'll she do mister?'.
His bread and butter is giving honest advice to ignorant or suffering punters, something he does very well as a rule. I don't suppose he misses our clamour and rudeness.
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Sire ... You are 100% spot on.
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"I'm still posting on HJ well till they tell me to clear off, i hope no one thinks doing so is any form of disloyalty to either forum plenty of room for both, the fun seems to have gone west over there though despite trying some tongue in cheek posts.
Rattie's extremely popular, to be honest many in Rattie's age group take themselves a bit too seriously, you're quite a breath of fresh air matey."
Agree wholeheartedly with both paras, GB. The more of the 'fun' people who can spare the time to post on more than one forum, the more fun the forums will be.
There's certainly no need for 'them and us': apart from the need to respect HJ's restrictions on advertising (simply because he is running a business), you should find both forums are being moderated with a similarly light touch.
So please, no more complaints: just post on whatever forum you like (as I do) and enjoy it.
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Avant this has nothing to do with advertising on HJ. Linking to other forums is allowed but not this one. Bending the 'rules' IMO. It's not an advert it's a link.
Ironically the attitude on HJ to this site and editing references means the regulars are less likely to go back. And the regulars generated a large percentage of the site traffic. Looking at Alexa will tell you things have gone down hill there which will impact how much they get for adverts.
The mistake they made was to swap forum software to something that didn't work (and still works poorly) and then to shut down for two weeks.
Maybe they should shut the forum for a while and concentrate on the rest of the website?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 20:14
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There is room for more than one pub in most towns.
Over here at the "Rat and Handbag" there is a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. We talk of other pubs and even tolerate people handing out flyers for another place, since we used to meet there ourselves. Everyone is welcome.
However over at the "Flivver and Firkin" they have some very big bouncers on the door. Go in quietly and behave and you might not even notice them. But try handing out flyers in there and your flyers will soon be in the rubbish bin out the back.
I've never felt really comfortable in pubs with bouncers.
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There is a poor choice of beer served over there now too.
And the jukebox is too loud
And I had a row in the toilet with some bloke
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 20:50
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>> There is a poor choice of beer served over there now too.
I heard it was watered down
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...I heard it was watered down...
Honest, John?
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The fact that links to this forum get deleted is a clearly because somebody is worried about their competitor. Its all very well saying theres room for both, no rivalry etc, but thats only supported from this side of the fence, maybe because this side knows it has a superior product.
The more they deny C4P, the more popular it will become because people will be wondering why it is that all references are deleted.
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What happened to Honest John was that it got too big for its own good and seems to have been taken over by big business.
This is exactly what happened to the biking forum "Visordown". It used to be a very successful forum but then its founder sold out to a big company and most of its regulars migrated to "The Rev Counter"
I still look in on Honest John and sometimes wonder if some of the new names are genuine individuals or are an attempt by the owners, to keep it afloat by inventing new names.
I say this because some writing styles seem very similar from supposedly different posters.
Whatever, that site has in my opinion, "lost it"
Shame.
Last edited by: MrTee43 on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 22:02
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Even links in TinyURL form must be deleted at present just like links to the Times. Which means moderators need to check every URL in every thread to make sure none are posted and missed. It keeps HJ mods busy. Otherwise a link to here could remain for a period which is avoided as much as possible.
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I have just tried a Google search for... Pugugly car ....and got hits on the first page for both sites so those still in the dark are not trying very hard to find this site.
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But you searched on a name that is probably only posted on here and HJ - Pugugly. Try searching on just car.
Yes if someone wanted to search on PU's name alone (and why not? congrats again) they'd find both sites.
If I was unaware of where members of HJ forums had gone I might not think to add Pugugly to the search criteria.
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I did get 53K+ hits on plain rtj70.
Hits on both sites on page one and hits a quite a few more sites. :-)
but HJ brings up on the first page ...
Hitler Youth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to The flags of the HJ and its branches: These symbols were used on the first official flags presented to the HJ at a national rally of the NSDAP ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth...... :-)
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Crocks summed it up for me perfectly. The nightclubs I go to most are the ones with the most friendly door staff and Djs. There are clubs I would like but avoid due to over the top security.
I go to a nightclub to rebel and enjoy myself not to be a good goody tds ewo shoes. Most clubs know this but a few are well over the top and will chuck you out if you dare to drop a bottle.
HJ is the same, I would have my posts edited almost daily and it got a bit tiring towards the end. The only reason I kept posting is I liked the members on the site. It felt like a nice nightclub with friendly people but very strict bouncers.
This place feels like a friendly club where the bouncers are your mates but will chuck you out if you cause a fight :)
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I was going to return to the HJ forum but there seems little point. The backroom was always a bandwidth sapping nuisance as far as he was concerned. He's forgotten that referring people on there for advice is how he gets more visitors. People only look at car info when they're changing their car. A forum keeps them coming back regularly. That seems to have escaped him. Blocking all mention of competitors doesn't stop them existing. It just makes the blocker look a bit petty.
3 days downtime is about as long as you can get away with a forum. Any more and people drift away. 2 weeks is a lifetime in the online world.
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>> >> And I had a row in the toilet with some bloke
>>
Crikey! I didn't realise that was you!
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"And I had a row in the toilet with some bloke"
Were you trying to sneak a peek?
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yes - and I peed on his boots.
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dont want to do that it drys the leather out and cracks it,plus you can see the salt lines
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There speaks an experienced dribbler.....Man U need you, BB !
Ted
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They now remove threads for saying previous members are posting somewhere else. There isn't a need to mention where or give a cryptic link. It is getting pretty sad. They'll be sending thanking emails to members returning to post soon!
It all sounds a bit desperate to me. Glad I resigned as a mod on Friday. But I was going to anyway because I realised I spent to much time there before... the two weeks downtime made me realise how much I did. And when working from home I responded to moderator emails ASAP (like report offensive) but so did Dave et al.
I had agreed to stay on for a few more weeks and then step down when we go on holidays at the start of May. Also moving house soon so that will take up time too.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 5 Apr 10 at 00:51
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I would like to make a suggestion.
I would like to see this thread locked and for us all to put the past behind us.
The future is here.
It would be nice if we could bask in our success and not criticise or gloat over HJ's loss.
We can all see it happening, but let's just rise above the aggro, stick our heads in the air and carry on enjoying ourselves.
It's always good to share in anyone's success but it's always sad to see their failure, and it in some way, taints the success.
It's not disloyal to use more than one forum.
I haven't posted in the BR yet, but I did press the reply button once. The feelings came back of having to formulate what I wanted to say, to be grammatically perfect and make sure my arthritic fingers were working in tune with my brain. I don't have to do that here:)
I never did make that post but I may well do in the future.
We all know where our heart is and mine is here, so let's move forward now and leave the past behind us.
Pat
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I've just been over to the BR and seen what's been posted overnight by someone who thinks it's funny.
I think it's absolutely despicable and certainly hope that no-one from here is reponsible.
Pat
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...to be grammatically perfect...
Pat,
Nowt wrong with your grammar that I can see, so I wouldn't worry about that.
Can't agree with locking the thread, though.
I don't think it's up to any member to decide what can and can't be talked about.
Seems to me some of the mods left the other place feeling they'd been a little ill-used.
Posting the odd remark on here vents that frustration and is probably quite healthy.
And like it or not, threads about the other place have been some of the longest and most well-read on here, so the interest is there.
I've just had a look at what some idiot's posted over there overnight.
I also hope it's no one from here, don't think it is given the puerile content.
And presumably it will not take someone long to zap all of it.
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I've just looked over there Pat. Awful. There are some pathetic souls about.
Moving forward as you say. I am HERE 4Play.
Martin.
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...There are some pathetic souls about...
Particularly on the internet, which seems to bring out the worst in some people.
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As The Now Show once put it the internet is an adventure playground for the mentalists. Their mods must be asleep as I was at that time.
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PU,
Did all go well with the wedding?
Presumably you are now in the good ol' U S of A?
NB: Looks like they're on with cleaning up the other place.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Mon 5 Apr 10 at 09:10
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Wedding went well thanks - weather held off at critical times including a roof down trip for the BM and Groom. US tomorrow - waiting for the other 'alf to get up and cook me breakfast now. Ouch !
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Good to see you are settling into married life so quickly. ;-)
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>>>'alf to get up and cook me breakfast now. Ouch ! <<<
Alf ? Civil partnership??????
That will teach you to browse on your laptop when still in bed!
;)
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...Wedding went well thanks...
I'm sure they'll be plenty on here pleased to hear that.
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yes indeedy - Our kindest regards to Alf. We trust you will be very happy together.
:-)
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Congrats PU - hope the new era is delightful for you both -
PS best not to log on while on honeymoon!
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Pat
there is always going to be a thread popping up on here about the "old place" Like divorce or death one has to talk about it, chuckle at the good times, grimace at the bad, gloat at the failures and even allow the green spectre of jealosy to rear its hissing fangs from time to time.
Lets fact it, it is the only single thing we all have in common.
What did I miss by the way? who did what over there?
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Yes I know Z, and it was only a suggestion, more to discourage the element of gloating over a triumph really.
It was spooky that directly arfter writing the above topic I went over to the BR and saw what had happened though.
Those who know me well swear by my 'premonitions'!
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Mon 5 Apr 10 at 10:25
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>> I went over to the BR and saw what had happened though.
For us that like our holiday lie in and missed it, what did happen?
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Anout six postings in the wee small hours - Just rubbish really - nothing offensive or about this site.
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>> Anout six postings in the wee small hours - Just rubbish really - nothing offensive
>> or about this site.
>>
Pu. I worry about you. What on earth were you doing reading the interweb thingmy last night, of all nights? ;>)
Enjoy youselves.
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Alas, all the spam mail for certain products ended up in his spam filter and he doesent know about them.......
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...What on earth were you doing reading the interweb thingmy last night, of all nights? ;>)...
The garbage was still one there at 8am this morning - they'd probably run out of steam by then. :)
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Well, as you're a mod and have an almost professional interest, and are not just rubber necking. :)
A poster called 'lets create some havoc' posted multiple posts in several of the forums.
One post contained a crude, but motoring-related, joke, and the other posts were just one word repeated over and over, I think until the text box was full.
There were about 20 or 30 of these posts in each forum.
All posted within a few minutes of each other around 2am.
Edit: I think some of it had been removed by the time PU had a look.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Mon 5 Apr 10 at 10:53
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This is a problem with all forums - someone can post stuff overnight and nobody sees it. Dave, PU and I used to read almost 100% of posts and respond quickly to report offensive messages. I just hope the new mods realise at times it can get quite busy especially around holiday times. As it could on here too.
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>> Well as you're a mod and have an almost professional interest and are not just rubber necking. :)
Actually it out of curiosity more than anything else, but yes you're probably right about the professional interest bit. I did wonder if it was the same type of stuff that got posted when I was a mod on there.
>> A poster called 'lets create some havoc' posted multiple posts in several of the forums.
There is still one post by lcsh in the motoring discussion area. Not the usual type of stuff that I experienced though. We had people posting links, mainly self promotion type stuff.
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...There is still one post by lcsh in the motoring discussion area...
I was only watching the clean-up from the sidelines, but I got the impression the mod who was doing it - Boris the Spider - was struggling a bit with the software.
Maybe mass deletions are not as easy as they should be, and like most things, I expect experience counts for a lot.
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These things happen. Rest assured that we don't for a moment think that it was anything to do with this forum. As PU says the internet attracts people like that.
Congrats again PU. Have a great time in Florida.
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"Glad I resigned as a mod on Friday." (rtj70)
Wow!
I don't know... I go away for the weekend and I miss all the drama! I had no idea.
Last edited by: ChrisPeugeot on Tue 6 Apr 10 at 09:53
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yes, its brought the government down and Gordon has had to ask for parliament to be disolved.
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>>.. and Gordon has had to ask for parliament to
>> be dissolved.
>>
Preferably in a vat of acid :-)
Last edited by: Old Sock on Tue 6 Apr 10 at 10:06
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>>> Preferably in a vat of acid <<<
Too good fer im mate - I'd put e in Selly Oak!
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>> >>> Preferably in a vat of acid <<<
>>
>> Too good fer im mate - I'd put e in Selly Oak!
Canem my old mate, I have this vision of you looking just like Johnny Dep on the poop deck of the Black Pearl.
Am I right?
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>>> I have this vision of you looking just like Johnny Dep on the poop deck of the Black Pearl <<<
Dunno mate, I'll have to ask my (young) friend as he knows all the films, only film I know is Papillon,
Although I (we) did watch (and enjoy) Mars Attacks last night, well - its only 14 years old :)
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you mean you missed Quatermas 2? The orginal 1957 black and white one?
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Ah! I'll have to watch that Z ~ www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0089jsy/Quatermass_2/
I remember it the first time round, I was 5 and used to hide in the 'put u up' as we called sofa-beds then,
and I would make myself ill eating Fry's chocolate cream bars!
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It scared me witless as a young'un. Even now, to my mind, refineries and power stations (nuclear with domes specially) look evil.
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>> Fry's chocolate cream bars!
I always liked those. Nippers still do. Haven't seen any lately though.
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>> >> Fry's chocolate cream bars!
>>
>> I always liked those. Nippers still do. Haven't seen any lately though.
Hated it. Liked the bars with the boys heads on tho.
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You replied too fast Zero-san, so this didn't register: Quatermass is total garbage. It's an age thing. The only good moment in the whole series was Caroon and the cactus plant taking him over, in the first film.
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This thread will soon get itself locked on account of its drift off-topic.....
Hang on - sorry - wrong website... :-)
Well, at least that got it back on topic again!
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never liked topics either, its the nuts.
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>>> you mean you missed Quatermas 2? The orginal 1957 black and white one? <<<
I just watched it Z - excellent B&W TV from the 50's and I thoroughly enjoyed it,
especially the Blonde with the big ooters @ the party :-)
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I knew you would like it Captain. Ignore that luddite philistine and his blasphemy.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 7 Apr 10 at 12:19
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>>> I have this vision of you looking just like Johnny Dep on the poop deck of the Black Pearl.
<<<
Here's the reply from my Learned friend in Plymouth ~
Well....taking into consideration that johnny Depp is said to have based his characterisation of Captain Jack Sparrow in part on Keith Richards, whos in turn has been described as the most elegantly wasted human being ever, I'd say you were in there wiv a fair chance.
Here is Keith's cameo performance in Pirates........ www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kx9r8JaoNE
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Has anybody noticed the ' names' of many of the current posters at HJ- particularly in Technical?
I am surprised that we have not yet seen ' Kevin & Tracey' appear. The 'quality' of problems seem to have declined, with less than comprehensive descriptions.
Does this signify a change in the Daily Telegraph target market?
Is it all in my imagination or are they employing 13 yr old ghost writers on some YTS scheme?
Last edited by: pmh on Wed 7 Apr 10 at 07:51
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I unfortunately 'bit'.
I think trolls roam freely over there.
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What does seem clear is that being a voluntary moderator of a discussion forum is a bit like having animals on a TV show - don't.
I shall make a note to refuse the honour if ever asked :)
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>> What does seem clear is that being a voluntary moderator of a discussion forum is
>> a bit like having animals on a TV show - don't.
Or organising the office Christmas party - a thankless job, never again ;-)
You can please all of the people some of the time...
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>>Is it all in my imagination or are they employing 13 yr old ghost writers on some YTS scheme?<<
I think they must be employing oilrag as he seems to be responsible for 50% of the threads.
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And, it seems, was upset by some perceived slight (a thread deleted) on here, so refuses to come back.
I would have thought he had more threads pruned and deleted over there than here. It seems a bit "nose face spite snip"
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Oilrag also posted on there from overseas using his phone and the post went missing. Nobody knows where it went. I suspect he posted it as an offensive message by mistake. I've done that because it's all to easy to do it. It seems they've fixed that problem now.
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If I stopped posting because one was deleted, I'd have lasted about a week on HJ, and not much longer on here.
My response would be to post all the more, just to hack off the mod concerned.
Petty? Moi? You bet.
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>> It seems they've fixed that problem now.
At that rate they'll soon have what problems that are left down to double figures ;o)
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A post from 'spose?' appeared breifly on HJ this morning complaining that he had received an email inviting him to visit this site. Initially it was edited by a moderator and left in place ( with lots of ****) to hide the this web address.
He was expressing concern that his email address had been obtained from somewhere (HJ site by implication) and that their data had been compromised.
It was deleted within about 30 minutes - without anybody bothering to address the security issue.
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>> and that their data had been compromised.
I take it that he didn't bother reading the post quite some time ago regarding this matter and suggestions of what steps to take.
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HJ website automatically censored the references to car4play.
The webmaster at HJ was Dynamic dave and he kept a list of all email addresses.
That is why VxFan who is the webnmaster here and was DD there has access to HJ backroomer details.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=84220
Website invitation that I did not ask for - Spospe
Mon 12 Apr 2010 11:15
I have just received this email from c*******.......
"Hi, have you wondered where some of the Backroom members have gone?
Well they're now over on www.c*******.com So, if you're
passionate about your car, like talking about cars,
have a non motoring question or computer problem,
then come and join www.c*******.com
Please don't mention you had an email invite if you do join.
Just say you found us via Google or something.
Many thanks, and hope to see you there.
ps, hope you didn't mind me emailing you this info, and accept my
apologies if you're already a member on c*******."
I am concerned about this, because the only place that they could
have got my email address from is the HJ website,
so has HJ been hacked for personal data?
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HJ was indeed hacked months ago, and that was acknowledged at the time: a good illustration that using important addresses or passwords on a public site is a very bad idea.
As far as I know, C4P did not have access to any email list from the previous site. I know my invite came because of personal communications with other members of the forum, I suspect yours would be similar.
I hope you can stay anyway - there's a nice vibe here.
SO.
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There are other sources of the email addresses and I am sure they were not used by car4play. Remember Khoo Systems used to run the HJ forums. I am assured they did not use this list.
If this message is edited by the moderators or removed then we can assume otherwise ;-)
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My email address at HJ was not known to anyone else.
The email to join car4play can only have come from an official of car4play who had access to HJ data and has illegaly kept a copy of it.
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Let's for a moment ignore the assurances we have that this did not happen. You say this would have been illegal. How so?
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Spospe
If for any reason a moderator at HJ had cause to email you in the course of forum business, then yes he might have kept it. If a moderator then moved to a new forum, started up because the old one was off the air, he might have used the email address he had in his address book to invite valuable contributers.
Dont forget this forum was set up because the old one was off the air. As it happens your email address is not confidential, and part of the conditions of the old site was that confidentiality was not guaranteed, so no rules laws or any other agreement has been broken
Welcome to this forum, Enjoy. You will find it much more relaxed than the other one.
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When you get an invite to a party, one has to ask whether the important point is whether or not you want to go to the party, not why it was you who got invited. Obviously someone thought enough of you to bother. They may not in the future though if one is prone to getting twisted knickers :-)
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Someone called? ;-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlgT3yuAdQ
Last edited by: Vicar of Bray on Mon 12 Apr 10 at 18:12
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>> Someone called? ;-)
>>
---
Vicar of Bray is
"oilrag"
----
Last edited by: Spospe on Fri 11 Jun 10 at 14:05
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>> The webmaster at HJ was Dynamic dave and he kept a list of all email
>> addresses.
>> That is why VxFan who is the webnmaster here and was DD there has access
>> to HJ backroomer details.
Pretty strong allegations there Spospe. No doubt I upset you at some point when I moderated HJ.
Right, let's try and clear up a few things once and for all.
Yes, I was the Webmaster, but so was at least one other moderator on HJ. We all had access to a database that contained people's usernames, emails, hashed passwords and date of registration.
I say "had" because as soon as I resigned my moderator role on HJ, at the same time my account was reverted back to the same as all the other backroomers and I no longer had access to the database - and quite right too.
The only email addresses I had were of a handful of people who I had discussions with away from the backroom forum, and had the occasional chat with. They will verify that I emailed them about C4P from my personal email account. To me that's no different to emailing a work colleague, friend, or occasional acquaintance.
I know there is an email doing the rounds (an anonymous one as they don't have the balls to put their own name to it, surprise surprise) accusing me of this, that and the other. It's quite a malicious and slanderous one, but I am the better man to just ignore and not rise to it. Now it wouldn't surprise me if it's not the same person who sent you the invite email to C4P. Among other things they have tried to put the blame onto me for the recent attack on the HJ site, sending someone an anonymous email saying his posts are boring on HJ, and storing personal data about Backroomers. Makes sense to put the blame on me for the C4P invites as well.
ps, oh yes, I am also responsible for Shergar going missing, I have Lord Lucan tied up in my garden shed, and I take full responsibility for the credit crunch.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 12 Apr 10 at 19:09
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Tangentially, I've always wondered what a "Webmaster" was ? I know nothing of these mysterious creatures but they do sound to me like some kind of refugee from a Marvel comic.
Spiderman's boss maybe ?
Must buy a book of jargon for the uninitiated.
:-)
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>>They will verify that I emailed them about C4P from my personal email account.<<
Verified.
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you didnt mail me from you personal account/
Bobby did.
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Zero, you obviously weren't important enough to get the initial invite!
But I was missing you :)
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I cannot understand why some people make such a fuss about who has or has not got an email address and how they came across it.
Just say someone from HJ emailed everyone about this forum.
So what? How much junk mail is sent every day? Do we have a steward's inquiry over each one?
Of course not.
And as regards a criminal offence, well that's just laughable.
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I personally welcomed the hint, the e-mail, as I genuinely wondered where all the regulars on HJ had gone to. Thanks whoever you are.
Tony.
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>> I personally welcomed the hint the e-mail as I genuinely wondered where all the regulars
>> on HJ had gone to. Thanks whoever you are.
>> Tony.
>>
Me too. Anyone who wishes to whine why not just find another flock and go off there! This is a great place to be. If it don't suit don't stay. Simples.
MD
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As a point of interest, I was registered on HJ for years and nobody emailed me! I emailed Stephen to see if he knew where every one was... and here I am!
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>> >> The only email addresses I had were of a handful of people who I had
>> discussions with away from the backroom forum and had the occasional chat with. They will
>> verify that I emailed them about C4P from my personal email account. To me that's
>> no different to emailing a work colleague friend or occasional acquaintance.
>>
I can confirm that.
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Owning up to things! Right, we've just eliminated Gordon as your real identity ;-)
JH
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I just checked, I asked DD/VxF to pass my address on to another forum contributor 14 months ago. I would think it entirely appropriate that he would have trawled through his sent e-mails recently and noted my address down as that of a likely supporter.
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ive only ever emailed one other member when he had a problem with his escort
i used this email address to let him know of this forum even though i didnt even know i had it till i went through my emails i had thought i had deleted
he now posts on here whether as a result of my email i neither know nor care,just glad to see him make the transition
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Heh heh bb... an eminence grise of the internet, as I noted long ago. I posted a verse on HJ which even took your name in vain. It was immediately censored for reasons I didn't fully understand but tookat the time to be religious on someone's part. However It wasn't especially blasphemous, so here it is, in case it survives this time.
CENTRIFUGAL TENDENCIES IN THE CHURCH OF HJ
Be sure to keep your backroom motoring jokes
Devoid of ists and isms,
For that can get those moderating blokes
In frightful paroxysms...
Yet men like bell boy, who are humorists
And coin neologisms
Are holding down heresy, and with iron fists
Repressing schisms.
PU suppressed it (but with a sort of complimentary email to reduce the pain).
Fingers crossed this time.
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Why anyone should want to censor that is beyond me.
Unless 'neologisms' is a naughty word - I've no idea what it means.
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If I understood it I might censor it too.
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I certainly wouldn't censor it on HJ now - but as a church organist I'm probably beyond redemption. Despite being a neologist, AC, I'm sure you're one of the select band who knows how to pronounce 'schism' !
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I can put my hand up as being responsible for a few of the initial emails too.
There was a private Facebook group where some BR's used to go to have a bit more of an open discussion on various topics, without the oppressing moderation.
As admin of that group I posted a link to this forum and asked everyone who had any private contact with old BR's to contact them.
It's still there, but we find we don't need to use it much these days:)
As stated before, I was made aware of this forum by someone who I had emailed in the past as a friend.
I used to get angry, uptight and want to put the world to rights but somewhere along the way I've learned to ask myself 'Does it really matter?'
This doesn't, so chill out and enjoy today.
Pat
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"ive only ever emailed one other member when he had a problem with his escort"
£250 quid for the evening and she wouldn't go all the way?
They never do.
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>>>"ive only ever emailed one other member when he had a problem with his escort" <<<
Yeah, I had the Mrk 1 version ... used to cough n' splutter before she got going.
Also had a lotta trouble with her big ends, got rid in the end when I met Clio though - French see!
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>> ps oh yes I am also responsible for Shergar going missing I have Lord Lucan
>> tied up in my garden shed and I take full responsibility for the credit crunch.
>>
Oh - one other thing.
What did you do with the Brinks Mat gold? Where is it hidden? I promise I won't tell anyone else.
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There`s decency for all to see
no subliminal `isms to` spoil the glee
Over on Hj - it`s the place
new members now pick up the pace
The Telegraph - a feeder in
of emails answered thick and thin
Hard work from the boss himself
Video`s features, off the shelf
You know you miss the spelling checks
the Mod`s stiff rods across your necks
But, wherefore art thou noble member?
A telling off - lost love remembered.
An empty hall just echo`s now...
where once you ate the fatted cow
chatting through the nights remembered
sorrow now - it seems dismembered.
Time passes by - an unseen clown
But eternity beckons as stars look down
If we are spared for another day
may once again we chat and play
But sometimes separations fixed
until were`re ferried over the Styx
In that case time to wish you well
wherever that is you will dwell.
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Go and tend yer flock. :0)
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HJ's site seems to be recovering, at least in terms of number of posts.
What more concerns me is the log term viability of this site. Its great to have an informal place to chat but it doesn't seem to attract many new visitors. I suspect to an outsider the experience of this site is a lot like entering a local pub full of regulars and is rather off putting. I'm not sure it can to be commercially viable in the long term without substantial changes. Can a forum like this exist in isolation?
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>> Can a forum like this exist in isolation?
I think that it could. Obviously getting new traffic in is the challenge. As you know a large proportion of posters came here from HJ direct, getting new ones in will be the challenge.
I originally arrived at HJ via Googling issues relating to buying my first car. When I Google motoring issues now, HJ regularly comes up but not C4P.
On the plus side, most of those HJ hits seem to come from forum posts, so as we get more content here C4P may get more prominence.
It is all part of getting momentum of a new site, but I think that the current content providers (i.e. the forum members) give C4P a better chance than somebody starting with no content and no members.
Of course, going back to your question, it also depends upon what they are planning to add to C4P, which will be interesting, but I still reckon that Google hits on forum posts will be a big route for getting traffic here.
I have my fingers firmly crossed that this site grows.
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My own view is that this site will wither away on account of a lack of new members - and the inevitable loss of old members. Meanwhile the HJ site will be diminished by the volume that is happening here.
I've seen forum splits before. Generally neither forum is the better for it.
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Certainly HJ has taken a hit by losing a lot of its established members, but it does have the substantial content built over many years, and should be able to attract new blood because of that content. Also, if C4P doesn't work out, I would imagine that many people would migrate back to HJ (I haven't actually "left" HJ, but I just primarily post here now).
I hope both sites continue to grow, but I agree that C4P has the bigger challenge, will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months.
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>> >> Can a forum like this exist in isolation?
>> Of course going back to your question it also depends upon what they are planning
>> to add to C4P which will be interesting but I still reckon that Google hits
>> on forum posts will be a big route for getting traffic here.
>>
When I joined, I was initially a little cautious and asked who was behind this site. Having received some reassuring replies, I then checked the whois data for the domain and found that the site seemed to have been registered a year ago, which meant that the planning had been done in some detail and it was not just an overnight production due to the sudden temporary closure of the other place.
edit
Someone asked before about the viability of the site some time ago and the owners said they did not need to make a lot of money to keep it running.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=28&m=836
Last edited by: John H on Tue 13 Apr 10 at 18:30
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>> When I joined I was initially a little cautious and asked who was behind this
>> site. Having received some reassuring replies I then checked the whois data for the domain
>> and found that the site seemed to have been registered a year ago which meant
>> that the planning had been done in some detail and it was not just an
>> overnight production due to the sudden temporary closure of the other place.
Common practise for many service companies and hosters, think up and pre register domain names. Cost peanuts to maintain.
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I think the success of this place, aside from those who run it keeping the financial side shipshape, is down to us, the backbone of it the place and of course, giving people the means with which to find it.
I think the motivation is here and the know-how, so Id say yes, it will survive and prosper.
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The survival of this site will depend how often it comes up on first page of search engines.
More posting on various car related topics will push search engine ranking higher.
More sites cross referencing this site, will push ranking even higher.
Over the time period, this site will come up more frequently.
So the key to prosperity is to make people find this site.
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Yes but what do they do when they find it? At the moment it consists (mainly) of a lot of old blokes having a chat amongst themselves. There are no reviews or any other information that would make them want to return.
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>> Yes but what do they do when they find it? At the moment it consists
>> (mainly) of a lot of old blokes having a chat amongst themselves. There are no
>> reviews or any other information that would make them want to return.
I personally think that the main value is in having the community of people that are happy to respond to questions, plus the growing base of previous discussions.
Sure, we spend a lot of time nattering over nonsense, but there is also a lot of experience being poured out on these board.
I personally never used a single shred of information on HJ, that was not contained in the forum (I'm sure the other information was good, I just never bothered with it), and yet I found the forum an invaluable resource.
So I think that people will come back, once they find C4P, but will they find it in the first place?
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What id like to see is a section where we can do owners reviews and running reports on cars we own. This is often facinating reading and very useful to potential owners. Think of how much enjoyment we get from Rattle's car sagas. Whenever I buy a car I always pop over to Parkers and read owners reviews on them.
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Have you been bugging our office?
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Well maybe the C4P office has been reading my mind!
For a few days now I'd wondered about doing a 3mth/3k interim report on my new C5... the sort of thing I'd have loved to read before I bought it. I know folks can search for something like that as it fades into the forum middle distance but to have a seperate place to look for user reviews would be good.
So I haven't bothered so far as it would probably of little interest to the current group here and sink quickly to oblivion.
BTW CGN said... Yes but what do they do when they find it? At the moment it consists (mainly) of a lot of old blokes having a chat amongst themselves. There are no reviews or any other information that would make them want to return....
That is a worry of mine regarding how this place moves forward.
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Maybe the "old blokes" bit is the niche - the youngsters can fiddle with their Mybooks and Facespaces, Wikipaedia has its uses but can easily be tampered with so maybe there's a gap for the slightly more mature enquirer....he/she doesn't want to "get down" with the yoof but equally doesn't need discussions on Werthers and liniments.
I think the "reviews" idea is a good one. I was also thinking some sort of reference by model might be useful - somewhere between the full technical/specification lists on say, Parker's and the anecdotal CBC on HJ. But I'm sure the cogs are whirring at C4P Central :)
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>> a lot of old blokes having a chat amongst themselves.
Maybe C4P could have a bloke in a flat cap as its logo ? Might work......
:-)
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Wed 14 Apr 10 at 13:06
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BB, that looks distinctly huntin', shootin', fishin' as opposed to old codger. You should take that as a compliment, it means you've a few years left yet.
JH
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Sorry chaps, but I hate tweed flat caps nearly as much as I hate baseball caps. Indeed I hate most hats really.
We aren't all old even if I am verging on middle age. We certainly aren't all codgers.
I think the review idea is good, because this site doesn't have HJ's substantial information databank. But people need to stretch cars and get them a bit out of shape a few times to review them properly. Not everyone does those things.
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I do enough with my cars to tell a keen driver what they'd like/dislike but I wouldn't dismiss info from those who err on the gentle side. User feedback of any type is usually so much better than glossy road test posturing.
Having said that there is something about the What Car online reader reviews that makes them less useful than I'd like... they all seem to be black or white in their appreciation for a car.
BTW plumbing in a beanie hat today, cycling in a John Deere baseball cap yesterday and perhaps gardening in the green moleskin flat cap tomorrow.... I like a hat but do draw the line at a plaid trilby.
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...I like a hat but do draw the line at a plaid trilby...
A hat is essential for enjoyable open top motoring in the CC3.
I have a woolly hat which I can pull over my ears, a baseball cap, but with a very stylish Foreign Legion-style neck flap, and a regular sun hat.
Losing a hat in the wind is not the problem you might think, because there is very little buffeting in the cabin.
The Foreign Legion cap has a cord with a small crocodile clip on, the woolly hat is too snug to blow away, so it would only be the sun hat that might take off.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Wed 14 Apr 10 at 19:02
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>> A hat is essential for enjoyable open top motoring in the CC3.
>> I have a woolly hat which I can pull over my ears a baseball cap
>> but with a very stylish Foreign Legion-style neck flap and a regular sun hat.
You buy a car that looks half way decent with its toupe off, and then you go out in it looking like that?
Trinny, Suzana, Gok, quickly, emergency, Help needed here I think.
The cc designers must be crying in thier lattes..
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>> I do enough with my cars to tell a keen driver what they'd like/dislike but
>> I wouldn't dismiss info from those who err on the gentle side. User feedback of
>> any type is usually so much better than glossy road test posturing.
>>
What I would find most useful kind of feedback is what a car is like to live with day to day. How easy is it to reverse, is there somewhere to put your left foot on M way journeys, how comfortable is the armrest, how effective is the ventilation & demisting, is it possible to do the basic maintainance yourself, etc etc.
How fast it gets to 60 and how many multiples of the speed limit a car can do are all very well, but it's the mundane stuff that can make you like or hate a car.
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Would also like to see reviews and ratings of garages - something like Tripadvisor does for hotels.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Wed 14 Apr 10 at 19:58
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Quite right, Fenlander and RR, practical considerations for sane drivers are more important than behaviour under semi-extreme conditions. But one can visualise all these sane modest practical drivers praising some cheap-to-run car to the skies when it has quirky handling or not-too-good brakes that may catch people unawares in the wet, say. Seems to me a tester needs to be able to say how safe and predictable the device is when some modest mimsing citizen overcooks it one day, as everyone does sooner or later, and not just once either.
HJ always mentions unsettling handling in a car when he tests one. It's part of the job. That said though, we are just citizens, not officials, innit?
On reflection I would say that the disparities in road behaviour between different cars are less gross than they used to be, and cars now all behave a lot better when pressed and booted than they did. But there are still differences.
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well how about the site publisher sticking up a drop down option for car reviews? Happy top privide a couple of honest and pithy real world reviews of my last two perambulators.
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I keep seeing an advert on the right hand side saying "Zero" and "Mitsubishi".
I haven't clicked on it yet but is that your review already?
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I know. its extremel gauling. They didnt even ask permission.
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Someone's reviewed a Mitsubishi Zero did you say?
tinyurl.com/y7guvbf
I hope they got back safe :-)
JH
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AC, "I am verging on middle age.". How many 120 olds do you know then? :-)
JH
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ok, who's going to be first to log-in as Andy Cap?
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...ok, who's going to be first to log-in as Andy Cap?...
Er, Andy Cap?
Last edited by: ifithelps on Wed 14 Apr 10 at 17:35
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This is a photo of my Napoleon Hat, I should wear it more orften but I haven't got the time ~
www.flickr.com/photos/43576259@N04/4521481330
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Dog - cant see the pic, its been deleted. But clicking the link to El Perro7 reveals a photo of what looks like a nude lady on a beach.
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>>> Dog - cant see the pic, its been deleted. But clicking the link to El Perro7 reveals a photo of what looks like a nude lady on a beach. <<<
Ok friend, I've deleted the chic now, the Napoeon Hat I put up was actually a Napoleon Hat clock :)
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